Let him Grow
by the Azbaban Dreamer
Summary: As soon as Scorpius started walking, Draco became paranoid that he'll hurt himself and takes drastic measures much to Astoria's despair. Things come to a head one afternoon. Indirect mention of events from Cursed Child.


Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling.

* * *

As soon as he started walking, Scorpius Malfoy was into everything and more in touch with the world around him, much to Draco's horror and Astoria's amusement. Draco was so worried that Scorpius would hurt himself, that he spent the entire weekend rushing about the Manor, putting up safety charms everywhere he could reach and removing all the furniture with sharp edges.

Astoria found it very funny at first, but soon she began to worry about the toll it was taking on her Husband. Draco would get paranoid every time Scorpius would run out of his sight and would rush after him. One day, things got so out of hand, that she had to put her foot down.

"Don't you think you're taking this a bit too far, dear?" She called up the drawing room chimney one morning holding Scorpius in her arms and letting him play with the golden tassels on her purple shawl.

"I'm not taking any risks, Astoria," Draco called back, voice echoing down the chimney. "I will make this whole Manor child proof if I have to."

"Why would Scorpius climb the chimney?" Astoria asked reasonably as Scorpius got bored of the tassels and started playing with her hair. "He doesn't like dark spaces."

"I caught him in the attic the other day," Draco called back. "If he could get up there, then Merlin help us if he could climb this as well."

Astoria rolled her eyes. "He only got in the attic because you left the hatch open when you were up there," She said.

"I'm sorry, Astoria, but I'm leaving nothing to chance," Draco said. "It's better to be safe than sorry. Scorpius is- **ARRGH!** "

There was a crash and Draco came tumbling down the shaft and landed on the marble mantle. Astoria's heart skipped a beat and she quickly put Scorpius down and rushed over to Draco.

"Are you alright?" She asked worriedly. Draco winced as he sat up, his face and hands covered in soot.

"I slipped," He said weakly. "I almost broke my neck."

"You look fine to me," Astoria said, peering at him. "You'll probably get a couple of bruises at least."

"Daddy fall down," Scorpius said quietly as he toddled over to Draco, a worried expression on his little face.

"Yes, he did, Scorpius," Astoria said, trying not to laugh. "He was being silly."

"Scorpy make Daddy better," Scorpius said, picking up Draco's wand. Astoria quickly grabbed the wand from the toddler before he could wave it.

"Daddy's wand isn't for you, sweetheart," She said softly, putting the wand on the coffee table. Scorpius's little lip stuck out slightly in a pout.

"Scorpy make Daddy better," He repeated quietly. Draco and Astoria both laughed.

"I'm feeling better already, Scorpius," Draco said weakly, and Scorpius looked a lot happier and stopped pouting.

"Scorpy make Daddy better?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes," Draco smiled. "Scorpy _did_ make Daddy better."

Scorpius then took a couple of steps towards Draco and opened his arms out, enveloping his father in a hug.

"I think he was quite worried about you," Astoria whispered as Draco hugged his son back tentatively, careful not to cover him in soot. "If you're not careful, I'll probably have to up put safety charms for both of you."

"I just don't want him to hurt himself," Draco said, rubbing Scorpius's back. "This Manor is a big place, and he's a very inquisitive child. I'm not sure that most of the furniture here is child friendly, to be honest."

"Most children learn by getting hurt," Astoria said. "Scorpius is no different. But I agree about some of the furniture here. That ugly wardrobe of your Fathers has got to go. It tried to attack Scorpius the other day."

"Where is it?" Draco asked uncertainly.

"In pieces in the Library," Astoria said, a steely note in her voice. A small smirk appeared on Draco's face.

"You know he won't be pleased," He said grimly. "Nott got him that from a friend of his."

Astoria bristled. "I don't care where he got it from. That thing _dared_ to attack my son."

She didn't fear Lucius Malfoy. To her, he was just a bitter old man and she had got the measure of him years ago.

"I always hated the stupid thing," Draco muttered, shifting Scorpius who continued to hug his father. "It'll be good to get rid of it, and maybe some of the other stupid artefacts of Father's."

"What about that Time-Turner?" Astoria asked suddenly, remembering the trinket that Lucius had given to Draco for safe keeping.

"I think I'll keep that," Draco said evasively, shifting Scorpius again who looked like he was falling asleep. "I don't like the idea of that getting into the wrong hands."

"Well make sure you lock it away," Astoria said firmly, having a sneaking suspicion as to why Draco was really keeping it. "Time is precious and shouldn't be tampered with in any circumstances."

"Well of course," Draco said, not looking Astoria in the eyes. "It's not as if Scorpius will stumble across it and change time to bring the Dark Lord back," He said dryly, but withered under the glare that Astoria gave him.

"Poor choice of words," He muttered as Scorpius gave a tiny snuffly snore. Draco and Astoria both looked at him and smiled softly.

"He's not due for a nap, yet," Astoria muttered. "If we don't wake him up soon, he'll never get to sleep. Here, let me take him. He seems to be pinning you down."

Astoria bent down and gently lifted Scorpius out of Draco's arms. She noted that his back was covered in soot and she smiled to herself. He made a small squeaking noise before he rested his head on Astoria's shoulder. Draco got gingerly to his feet, shaking a lot of soot out of his robes and littering the carpet with it.

"Scorpius," Astoria cooked, stroking Scorpius's silky blonde hair. "Scorpy, sweetheart you can't go to sleep yet."

Scorpius let out a little whine and buried his head deeper into Astoria's shawl where he started snoring again.

"Scorpius," Draco said softly. "Would you like a sweet?"

To their surprise, Scorpius stopped snoring and lifted his head and looked at Draco inquisitively who snatched his wand from the coffee table.

" _Accio Pepper Imps,"_ He muttered, and the small bag of Pepper Imps shot out of the pocket of Astoria's robe and straight into his hand.

"Are you sure you want to give him those?" Astoria asked. "You always said he's too young for them."

"I think he deserves them after he helped make me better," Draco said, a wry smile forming on his mouth. Scorpius squirmed excitedly in Astoria's arms, stretching out his little arms. He always eyed up Astoria's Pepper Imps and Draco always teased her that it was because of her cravings for them when she was carrying him.

"Scorpy's," He whined and the bag of Pepper Imps flew out of Draco's hand and zoomed across the Drawing Room where they fell at Astoria's feet. Sweets always seemed to motivate Scorpius to perform magic. Draco always said that it was because of Astoria.

Astoria scooped down and picked up the bag with her left hand and set Scorpius down on the sofa where he reached up his little arms in an attempt to snatch the bag and sat down next to him and took out a Pepper Imp and broke it in half.

"Scorpy's," The toddler repeated impatiently, clearly not amused that he had been woken from his nap.

"Scorpy share with Mummy," Astoria said softly. "Because it's important to share. You make friends that way if you share your sweets."

"Scorpy share sweets?" Scorpius asked, a tiny frown appearing on his little face as he let that statement sink in. Astoria decided that a little song was needed in order to help him learn.

" _Sweets,_ " Astoria sang. " _They help you make friends!_ "

The effect was instantaneous: Scorpius giggled and clapped his tiny hands together, his eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Draco, doesn't he look adorable?" Astoria gushed, looking at Scorpius's angelic grin as he continued giggling.

"Don't let that face fool you," Draco snorted. "He's just charming you. It _is_ the Malfoy way, after all."

"You're such a cynic," Astoria teased. "But you're the first person to bend over backwards for him."

"He knows my weaknesses," Draco smiled, watching Scorpius reach up for the Pepper Imp again.

Astoria handed him his half of the Pepper Imp and he put it in his mouth. Small amounts of steam gushed from his ears and his eyes were wide with shock. He flapped his arms and toppled back. Astoria quickly sat him up and immediately, to Astoria's relief, burst out giggling again. Astoria burst out laughing as well and Draco cracked a smile.

"More," Scorpius said after he finally stopped giggling. He reached up for the bag again, but Astoria moved it out of his reach.

"No more," She said softly. "Do you want to water the roses with me?"

"Scorpy water flowers," Scorpius said confidently and he slid off the sofa before running out of the Drawing Room.

Draco rose to follow him, but Astoria gently put her hand on his shoulder and he sank back down.

"He knows where he's going," She said gently. "He doesn't need you hovering around him constantly. You won't be able to be with him when he goes to Hogwarts."

"I know," Draco exhaled. "I'm trying so hard to not be my Father, that I'll end up suffocating him. He never did anything like that for me."

"Draco, you're a brilliant Father," Astoria said. "Scorpius adores you, I adore you. But Scorpius needs you to step back just that tiny little bit in order for him to explore his surroundings. Yes, he'll probably fall over, I did at his age. In fact, I was terrible. Daphne said that I was always running into things and knocking them over. Part of that was because of the curse. I was a very sickly child, you know."

Draco shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Astoria's Blood Curse. Astoria suddenly had a sneaking suspicion as to why Draco was acting like this.

"Is this why you're doing this?" She asked him. "Because of the Blood Curse?"

Draco shifted again, his expression blank, but Astoria could see the pain in his eyes.

"Partly," He said finally, his fingers brushing her hand. "I know that you're going to leave us someday. Scorpius is growing, starting to walk and I don't want anything to happen to him that will. There's still so much darkness in this Manor, in the world, and I don't want him to be exposed to any of that yet."

Astoria gently took his hand.

"You can't cocoon him forever," She said patiently. "Let him grow. One day he will venture into the wider world and do remarkable things. The trick is to enjoy every moment you can with him. The same goes for me. I know I won't be around forever, but as long as you have me in your heart, I will never truly leave you. Let's make the days that we have together the best that we can. Life only happens once and it is best to live it and not worry about what will happen in the future."

"You're right, of course," Draco said quietly. "As long as I have you and Scorpius, I will never be alone."

Astoria smiled and rested her forehead against Draco's.

"So, no more safety charms up the chimney?" She asked him.

"No more safety charms up the chimney," Draco said. Astoria beamed and kissed him. She felt privileged to know that she was probably the only person in the world to know the true Draco Malfoy and at that moment, being the only one to know the best of her husband made Astoria feel truly lucky to be alive at the moment. But all good things come to an end and there was a loud crash outside that told them that somehow Scorpius had broken a plot.

"Mummy, Scorpy watering flowers!" Scorpius shouted causing Draco and Astoria to break apart.

"I told you that he's a little charmer," Draco said dryly, a smirk on his face that caused Astoria to laugh.

"I'd better rescue him before he drowns my roses," Astoria muttered.

"Not to mention flooding the Manor," Draco said darkly. They both shared a smile before getting up and sorting out the mess.

* * *

Scorpius referring himself in the third person belongs to LittleRose13

Thank you for reading.


End file.
